Automatic safety appliance for railways.



R. D. FARRELL. AUTOMATIC SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAYSp APPLICATIONFILED JUNE 4, 190B.

91 1,961. Patented Feb. 9, 1909.

2 SHEETSv-SHEET 1.

W tt messes Q t attozum R. D. FARRELL.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY APPLIANGE FOR RAILWAYS.

APPLIOATIONQILED JUNE 4, 1908.

' 91 1,961 Patented Feb. 9, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

v m l humus RICHARD 1). FARRELL, OI" TYRONE, PENNSYLVANIA.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAYS Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. o, 1909.

Application filed. June 41, 1998. Serial No. 436,715.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, RICHARD D. FARRELL, acitizen of the United States, residing at 'lyrone, in-the county ofBlair and State of 5 .Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulAutomatic Safety Appliance for Railways, of which thefollowing is aspecification.

i i i I i' responding The invention relates to improvements in fautomatic safety appliances for'railways.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction ofsafety appliances for railways, and to provide a simple andcomparatively inexpensive safety appliance, adapted to be easilyinstalled on railroads, and capable, should an engineer attempt to passunder a danger signal without stopping, of automaticallyventing orbleeding the train pipe of the air brake system 1 and of sounding thewhistle signal within the cab of the locomotive, and of displaying orlighting an electric light in front of the engineci', so that theengineer if alive will have his attention called to the danger signal,and

if dead, will have. his engine stopped by a complete application of thebrakes.

A further object of the invent-ion is to provide a safety appliance ofthis character adapted to maintain the air brake bleeding valve in anopen position until the train is brought to a standstill, and capable ofthen automatically re-settrng itself and of permitting the brake valvetoclose.

With these and other objects in view, the

'flfginvention consists in the construction and novel combination ofparts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended; it being.understood that 40 variouschanges in the form, proportion,

size and minor details of construction, within the scope 'of the claims,may be resorted to without departing from the spiritor sacriiicing anyof the advantages of the invention.

in the drawings:l*igure 1 is an elevation,

partly in section, of a safety appliance consti-ucted in accordance withthis invention, he tripping device being arranged in the path of theoscillatoryvalve opening lever.

Fig. 2 is a similar view,illustrating the manner of operating the valveopeninglever. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view. Fig. 4 1san'enlarged detail sectional view of the is an en- Like numerals ofreference designate cor-- parts in. all the figures of the drawings. i

1 designates an air brake bleeding valve,

movable vertically within a valve casing,-

whlch is connected to a pipe 2 in communication with the train pipe,whereby when the valve is opened, as hereinafter explained, pressure inthe train pipe will be reduced for applying the air brakes. The pipe 2,which is arranged vertically, has its upper end 3 threaded for thereception of a nipple 4, which is interiorly and exteriorly threaded, asclearly illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The nipple connects thevalve casing with the pipe 2 and the said valve casing is composed ofupper and lower sections 5 and 6. The lower section 6, which'is in theform of a cap, is interiorly threaded and engages exterior screwthreads7 of the lower end of the upper section of the casing. The said lowersection 6 is also provided with a reduced depending interiorlythreadcdportion 8, which screws on tqthe nipplel. The upper section isprovided with a vertical bore or opening 9, having its lower portionenlarged andtapered to form a seat for the valve 10, which is tapered asshown. The upper portion of the valve is also provided with transversedischarge passages 11, through which the air escapes when the valve isopen. The valve, which is movable vertically, is provided with anupwardly extending valve stem 13, and it has a recess 14 in its lowerface for the reception of the up per end of a vertically disposed spiralspring 15, seated on the lower section of the casing and adapted to holdthe valve 1 normally in its closed position. The spring alsoopen. atesto automatically close the valve after the latter has been operated andreleased by Fig. 3 of drawings.

The top 18 of the cab 19 provided'with an opening, and the valvecasing'is equipped with a pair of upwardly extending arms 20, extendingthrough the opening and forming a support for a double actingoscillatory lever 21.

The lever 21, which extends above the top of the cab, is provided at itslower end with a pair of spaced downwardly extending projections 22,normally located at opposite sides of the valve stem 13, as illustratedin Fig. 1 of the drawings, whereby the valve stem will be depressed andthe valve opened, when the lever is moved in either direction in aperpendicular position. Thelower end of the vertical lever is providedbetween the projections 22 with a comparatively curved edge 23, forminga recess and providing opposite cam portions for actuating the valvestem; per end with a seat or recess 24, and when the lever isoscillated, one of the projections 22 is carried to a point directlybeneath the pivot 25 of the lever 21, as illustrated in Fig. 2 of thedrawings. In this position such projection or pointed portion 22 engagesthe seat or recess 24 of the upper end of the valve stem, and thecombined pressure of air and the coiled spring 15 is sufficient tomaintain the lever in engagement with the upper end of the valve stem,whereby the valve will be held open until the train is stopped. When theair pressure within the train pipe is re duced sufficiently to eiiect acomplete application of the brakes and stop the train, the lever 21 isautomatically returned to its perpendicular position by means ofopposite coiled springs 26, located in advance and in rear of the lever21 and arranged at an inclination. The springs 26 are secured at theirlower ends to the top of the cab, and their upper ends are attached tothe lever 21. When the lever is moved either backwardly or forwardlyfrom a perpendicular position, one of the springs will be distended andwill operate to return the lever to its vertical position as soon as thelever is free to move.

The lever 21 is equipped at its upper end with a horizontally disposedsubstantially oblong loop 27, having curved end portions and preferablyconstructed of asingle piece of metal, the terminals of which arebolted, or otherwise secured to the upper end of the lever 21. The loop,which projects laterally upon the lever in each direction a considerabledistance, is provided for enabling tripping devices in diil'erentvertical planes to be employed for operating the safety appliance." v

The safety appliance is operated by a tripping ,device, consisting of alever 28, fulcrumed at an intermediate point by a bolt 29, or othersuitable fastening device to a bracket 30, or other suitable support.The inner arm 31 of the tri )ping device is provided with a slot 32 anis connected by a bolt 83, or other suitable fastening device The valvestem is provided in its up- 1 with a rod or bar 34, which is connectedwith a pivoted semaphore 35. The semaphore is operated in the usualmanner by 0 eratin mechanism including a rod 36 and a bel crank lever37, fulcrumed at its angle and having one of its arms connected wlth therod 34 by a slot and pin connection, as shown at 38. The tripping devicemay be connected with a semaphore, or other signal in any otherpreferred manner, as will be readily understood. hen the semaphore israised to display it, the tripping device is swung downward into thepath of the valve operating lever, and should a train attempt to runpast the signal, the loop of the lever will come in contact with thetripping device arid the valve will be opened and locked in suchposition, as before explained.

The lever engaged arm 39 of the tripping device is approximatelyU-shapcd and is provided with a hinged. side 40, pivoted at 41 anddepending below the opposite side of the U-shaped arm or portion, asclearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The pivoted member when inoperativeposition is arranged at an inclination, and its upper end isreduced to fit in a slot or perforation of the body portion of thelever, suitable shoulders being provided at the joint for limiting theinward movement of the pivoted side or member. The hinged side isyieldably held in operative position with relation to the rest of thetripping lever by means of a coiled spring 42, connected with the)ivoted side 40 and with the opposite side, the sides of the U-shapedarm or portion being equigped with eyes or other suitable means for t 1eattachment of the ends of the spring. The coiled spring 42 is ofsulficient strength to secure an operation of the lever 21, and when thelever has reached the limit of its movement, the tripping device permitsthe said lever to pass beyondit, whereby prevented. The upward movementof the pivoted side 40 of the tripping lever is limited by means of alug or pro ection 43, extending from the body portion of the lever andlocated at the outer side and above the pivoted side or member 40, asclearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. When the semaphore isdropped, ,motion is communicated to the tripping device, which is swungu ward out 01" the path of the lever 21. T is movement of the lever 21from a perpendicular position is limited by means of a pair ofdownwardly diverging arms 44, located in advance and in rear of thepivot 25 and ex tending downward therefrom and terminating in advanceand in rear ofthe projections 22. The valve casing operates as a stopand is engaged by the arms 44 for limiting the movement of the lever 21,and the lower ends of the said arms 44 are provided with heads 45 havingrounded edges and adapted to operate push buttons 46 of an electriccircuit 47 breakage of the parts is The electric circuit 47 includes asuitablehattery lli-and an electric light 49, mounted in the cab infront of the engineer. The push buttons are mounted in suitable supports50, which are carried by the bracket lo, and the lever 21 when at'thelimit of its mo vementin either direction is adapted to hold one of thepush buttons in a depressed position for maintaining a closed circuit.The

preferably formed by a spring 56, secured at an intermediate point to astem 57. The stem 57, which is arranged at an angle to the lever, has anenlarged outer end or head 58, having a recess or seat to receive theintermediate attached portion of the spring 56': The recess or seat isconcavely curved and the stem and the arms form a substantially Y-shapedwhistle operating device. One or the other of the arms of the whistleoperating device will engage the whistle valve when the lever 21 ismoved in either direction and when the lever is operated the brake willnot only be applied, but the signal whistle will be blown and theelectric light displayed. The

light, which may be either white or colored,

is preferably of the latter type to distinguish it from an ordinaryelectric light.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. An automatic safety appliance for railways including a brake valve, apivoted lever movable in either direction to open the valve and arrangedto be retained in engagement with the valve by the air pressure to holdthe valve open, and a tripping device adapted to be moved into the pathof the lo ver.

2. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an air brakevalve, a pivoted lever movable in either direction to engage and openthe valve and arranged to he maintained in engagement with the. valve bythe pressure of air, and means for automatically disengaging the leverfrom the valve to return the former to its initial position after therehas been a considerable reduction in the pressure of air.

3. An automatic safety'appliance for railways including a brake valve, aspring for automatically closing the same, a pivoted lever movable inopposite directions to engage and open the valve and arranged to benmmt-ained in engagement with the said' valve by the air pressure whenthe same is relatively high, and springs connected withthe lever fordisengaging the lever from the valve to return the lever to its normalposition and to permit the valve to close when the air pressure isrelatively low. 4. An automatic safety appliance for railw ys includingan air brake valve, a spring for automatically closing the same, a levermovable in either direction to engage and open the valve andarrangedtobe maintained in such engagei'nent when air pressure is relativel hi hand inclined s )rin s arran ed in advance and in rear ol'the lever fordisengaging the lever from the valve when the air pressure is relativelylow. I

5. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an air brakevalve, and a pivoted lever having spaced portions arranged to engage andopen the valve when the lever is moved in either direction, saidvalvebeing also, provided with means col'iperating with the engagedportions to maintain the lever in its engaged position.

6-. An automatic safety appliance l'or railways including an airbrakefvalvo provided with a recess or seat, and an oscillz'itory leverhaving spaced projecting portions arranged to actuate and open the valvewhen the lever is moved in either direction, said projections beingadapted to be carried into engagement with 'the seat to maintain thevalve in its open position.

7. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an air brakevalve having a seat, and an oscillatory lever provided with spacedengaging portions arranged to be carried into engagement with the seatto limit theswing ol' the lever when the latter is moved in.either'd-irection, said" lever being provided between'thc projectingportions with curved cam edges for opening the valve.

8. An automatic sal'cty appliance for rail ways including an air brakevalve, and an oscillatory lever havingspaced projecting portionsarranged to engage and open the valve and maintain the same in its openposition, said lever being also provided with spaced projecting armsarranged to limit the movement of the lever. 1

9. An automatic sal'cty appliance for railways including an air brakevalve, and an oscillatory lever having spaced projecting portionsarranged to engage and open the valve and maintain the same in its openposition,

said lever being also provided with spaced projecting arms arranged tolimit the move' ment of the lever, and opposite springs connected. withthe lever for automatically returning the lever to its initial position.

10. An automatic sal'ety app iancc for railways including an air brakevalve having arecess, a spring for automatically closing the valve, anoscillatory lever provided with spaced projecting portions arranged toopen t e valve and engage the recess thereof andadapted to be maintainedin such engagement by relatively high air pressure, said lever beingalso provided with arms arranged to limit its movement, and oppositesprings connected with the lever for disengaging the same from the valveto return the lever to its normal position and to permit the valve toclose when the air pressure is relatively low.

11. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an air brakevalve provided with a casing having upwardly projecting supports, alever pivoted between the up w wardly projecting supports and providedand move when the .4

with depending diverging arms arranged to engage the casing to limit themovement of. the lever, said lever being also provided with spacedprojecting portions for engaging and opening the valve, and oppositesprings connected with the lever for returning the same to its normalposition.

12. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an air brakevalve, a lever for opening the same, a signal whistle, a valve connectedwith the carried by the lever and arranged to engage and operate-thesignal whistle valve when the said lever is moved in either direction.

13. An automatic safety appliance for railways including a signalwhistle, a valve connected with the whistle, an oscillatory lever, andspaced engaging portions carried by the lever and arranged to operatethe valve when the lever is moved in either direction. a

14. An automatic safety appliance for railways includirw a signalwhistle, a valve connected with the whistle, an oscillatory lever, andresilient diverging arms carried by the lever and arranged to engage thevalve lever is moved in either direction.

15. An automatic safety appliance for railways includinga signalwhistle, a valve connected with t e whistle, an oscillatory lever, astem extending from the lever and rovided with an enlargement or headhava seat, and a spring secured at an intermediate point in the seat andhaving divergin arms arranged to engage and operate the va ve when thelever is moved in either direction.

16. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an air brakevalve, a lever arranged to engage and open the valve, and an electriccircu1t having an electric light and provided with circuit closing meansarranged to be engaged and operated by the said lever.

17. An automatic safety appliance for railways comprising anautomaticair brake valve, a. pivoted lever movable in opposite same, and meansdirections to open the valve, and a circuit including an electric light,and circuit closing means located at opposite sides of the i valve andlocated in the path of and adapted to be operated by the lever. 18;' Anautomatic safety appliance for lrailways comprising an air brake valve,a l casing for the valve, a pivoted lever movable in opposite directionsto open the valve and provided with arms arranged to engage the casingfor limiting the movement of the lever, and a -circuit including anelectric light, and opposite circuit closing devices arranged to beoperated by the arms of the lever. I

19. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an air brakevalve, a lever movable in opposite directions to enga e and open thevalve, a circuit having an electric light and providedwith circuitclosing means arranged in the path of'and adapted to be operated by thelever, a whistle signal valve, and means carried by the lever for engaing and operating the said whistle signal va ve.

20. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an oscillatorylever, and a tripping device movable into and out of the path of thelever and having a yieldable portion for actuating the lever providedwith means for automatically returning it to its normal position.

21. Anautomatic safety appliance for railways including an oscillatorylever, and a tripping device movable into and out of the path of thelever and having a pivoted member, and a spring connected with thepivoted in operative positlon and for automatically returning thepivoted member to its normal position.

22. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an oscillatorylever, and an approximately U-shaped pivoted tripping device havingapivoted side arranged to swing outward, and a spring connecting thepivoted side with the opposite side of the tripping device.

23. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an oscillatorylever, and a substantially U-shaped pivoted tripping device composed ofa body portion, and a pivoted member arranged to swing outward, a lugextending from the body portion for limiting the outward movement of thepivoted member, and a spring connected with the pivoted member forholding the same normally at the limit of its inward movement.

24. An automatic safety appliance for signal, a pivoted tripping devicehaving a yieldable member provided with means for automaticallyreturning it to its normal position, and means for communicating inoticnlfrom the signal to the tripping device fer member for yieldablymaintaining the same I railways including an oscillatory lever, a

into and out of the path of the operating lever.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have heretoatfixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

RICHARD D. FARRELL.

movin the same into and out of the path of the lever.

25. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an operatinglever de- 5 signed to be carried by a train at the top thereof andprovided With a loop extending from opposite sides of he lever, asemaphore, and a tripping device consisting of a lever Witnesses: ipivotally mounted between its ends and JNo. K. MILLER, 10 connected withthe semaphore and movable H. W. BROWNELL.

